Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Hack 24 – it’s a 24 hour Hackathon held in Nottingham.
It was my first time in attendance. The event itself has being going on for 3 years, and talking to some of the folk in the room, it’s been going from strength to strength.
So what is Hack 24?
Well… it’s organized by the great folk at Tech Nottingham (supported by a number of other local communities). A number of companies and organizations, sponsor the event, provide challenges, etc… then some of the greatest minds around the city apply for tickets (limited spaces!), and arrive at the Grade II listed building in the centre of Nottingham.
They are presented with the challenges and then form teams to work on the challenges. They have 24 hours to work on them!
There’s various prizes to be won… from £2,000 in cash, to another prize where each member of the team walks away with an Amazon Echo.
I personally think this is a great way to have the local tech community become more engaged in real-life challenges that companies and organizations face. Not to give too much away, one of the challenges was around Fake News….
I’m sure more will be published by Hack24 guys on social media and their website, which i’d encourage you to go and visit/see. Also, might be an opportunity for you to get involved in next years Hack 24.
And Hackathons are a great ROI (Return On Investment) – either if you are a coder/developer/attendee, there’s not only the prizes I mentioned, but the opportunity to learn. You’re in teams, and it’s okay if you don’t know anyone, there’s folk there to help you either find or form a team. Best way to learn from others and increase your knowledge.
Then, if you are a company/organization – think of the great minds in and around the city who are wanting to work on your issue/challenge and provide you with some great insights and develop something amazing for you. All in 24 hours!!!
In this day and age, first to market, speed of development and quality of product are key to success… and these types of events sure do help.
So what were the results? – well, it was all very impressive!
My favourtie was this…
That’s right. Some really clever folk managed to do some coding, to detect fake news… create a ‘Donald Trump’ that then reacts and acknowledges it’s fake news.
Coding and Creativity. All in 24 hours.